Saudi Arabia holds 'secret trial' for prominent cleric Al-Ouda

The Saudi authorities have “secretly” held a trial in absentia for the kingdom’s jailed prominent cleric Sheikh Salman Al-Ouda, his family reported yesterday.”

This time, the state authorities did not let my father [Al-Ouda] attend the trial,” his son, Abdullah, said on Twitter, adding that Saudi prosecutor reaffirmed on his previous request of killing Al-Ouda.

Al-Ouda is the assistant secretary-general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which Riyadh considers a terrorist organization. He was arrested on 10 September 2017 as part of a massive detention campaign, initiated under the order of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, against opponents of the kingdom’s policy regarding the blockade on the Gulf state of Qatar.

The Imprisoned cleric was reported to have been arrested from his home without a warrant a few hours after posting a tweet reacting to the Gulf crisis, in which he said: “May God harmonise between their hearts for what is good for their people.”

In November 2017, the kingdom authorities arrested a group of senior Sheikhs, scholars, businessmen, wealthy people and ministers, in what was said to be a “war against corruption,” which was considered an attempt to obtain full control over the political scene. Dozens of Islamists, writers and academics who criticized Riyadh’s foreign policy were also arrested.

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